Hello Gearheads and welcome back! Today, I’ve got the pleasure to feature another wonderful set of pickups from Ron Ellis Pickups, who make possibly, the best sounding and feeling pickups today. I’ve had the joy to feature a few other sets from Ron in the past and not only did they breathe new life into the instruments they were installed in… they have remained a permanent resident! Ron’s pickups just speak so well in terms of the tone and feel and literally every set I’ve tried has completely blown me away.
The set in question for today’s feature is the 60’s Bette humbucker set. I had the chance to experience a Bette humbucker in the bridge position of my Danocaster Double Cut and when I was looking for a new set of pickups to “wake up” my Koa Montuoro hollow body, the recommendation from Ron was to try a full set of Bette’s. The Bette set is in essence a perfected 60’s era patent era or PAF sound and while they work wonderfully in any guitar, they seem to fit really well within the semi-hollow or hollow body styles…. absolutely perfect for my use case with my custom hollowbody from luthier Frankie Montuoro.
Frankie Montuoro is high end custom luthier who built and still might be building old and vintage style replica acoustic guitars in the vein of pre-war Martin and Larson style acoustics. Sought after in the high end collectors market, Frankie’s work is something special. I happened to meet Frankie about 20 years ago when I was looking to have a guitar built in the style and influence of a Paul Languedoc hollowbody electric, made famous by Trey Anastasio of the band Phish. At that time, literally no one was making direct clones much less much held information on making something in the spirit of those amazing guitars. I had attempted builds with a few other builders but nothing really worked out until I met Frankie when he was working with Bill Asher in Santa Monica, CA. We struck up a friendship over the idea of making such a unique instrument and set forth onto a lengthy (5 year or so) process till it’s fruition. Both Frankie and I were blown away by the guitar and I used it exclusively for about a decade. Frankie mentioned wishing he made himself one at the time as it was such a labor intensive project that couldn’t really be replicated without a ton of work and expense. To date, I believe it’s the only electric guitar he’s made. My Montuoro is still a constant writing partner and is used on sessions for it’s versatile and extremely unique tonal character. It’s the ONE guitar I’d grab if disaster struck and will forever be an important piece of my music career.
Enter my friend Ron Ellis! When I was looking at featuring a few more sets for him, I thought about finally upgrading the set that had been in the Montuoro since it’s birth. Originally, a set of Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II’s were in that guitar, which at the time (20 years ago) served it well. I think I remember those being a favorite of Slash and I thought that was good enough for me! Over the years I always thought about upgrading the pickups, the electronics… removing some of the extra switching etc… simplifying and embracing a purity of tone. I had always put this idea on the back burner and not until chatting with Ron did I make the move to upgrade my sweet old friend with some magic. Magical indeed, the 60’s Bette Set were like swapping out well worn and tattered boots, that were so familiar but so badly needing a refresh with a new pair that not only felt amazing, but like you’ve known them for years. That is in short the mysterious beauty of Ron Ellis Pickups to me… these are brand new pickups, they feel familiar and evoke the best out of your fingers while really opening up the guitar’s voice in way that somehow grounds you in all that you’ve been and pushes you forward to who you are today.
I opted to go very simple with this overhaul and while I kept my treble bleed circuit, I removed all the coil tapping, phase and parallel switching and what I have now is a pure and open voice with such sweetness that shines with the wood of this guitar. This Montuoro is all Hawaiian Koa with a Curly Maple neck and while the guitar is hollow, it’s not braced like a traditional archtop or a Languedoc. It’s actually a top sandwiched upon a one-piece hollow back and sides. This set of Bette’s makes the most of this unique composition and I am left with a very woody and warm tonality but still have the snap and clarity that I demand out of this kind of instrument.
In the video demo below I used the Montuoro with the 60’s Bette set for all the guitar tracks and used a variety of amplifiers to showcase not only the versatility of these wonderful pickups but also to show how responsive and musical they react. These pickups just sound like music… pure and simple.
Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the 60’s Bette set from Ron Ellis Pickups. If you’d like to learn more about Ron and his work please do check out these sites for more information.
https://www.ronellispickups.com
https://www.instagram.com/ronellispickups/
https://www.facebook.com/ronellispickups
Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!